Conventionally, video cameras for recording video (moving image) data in recording media such as a semiconductor memory have been known. In such a video camera, video data is created according to a compression/coding standard, typified by MPEG-2 (Moving Picture Experts Group Phase 2) and H.264/AVC (Advanced Video Coding), and the created video data is recorded in a semiconductor memory.
Many video cameras of this type have various shooting functions. One of these functions is an interval recording function, in which images are recorded at predetermined time intervals so that slow-moving scenes taken over a long period of time can be reproduced as a short video. For example, JP 2007-159056 A discloses an encoding apparatus applicable to the interval recording function. According to this encoding apparatus, image data obtained within a predetermined shooting time is set as one unit of data, and inter-frame encoding is performed so that the encoding of the data is completed on a unit-by-unit basis.